Suspect in Troy robbery had 0.30 BAC when arrested

A 38-year-old Troy man doesn't have an alibi for an armed robbery earlier this month at the Alibi restaurant, according to Troy police.

James Rutherford Mell was arrested Jan. 16 and arraigned Jan. 18 in connection with the armed robbery in the parking lot of the Rochester Road restaurant.

At about 2:47 p.m. on Jan. 9, a woman was leaving the restaurant and putting a carry-out order in her trunk when a black sport utility vehicle pulled up behind her.

"The victim turned around and observed a white male wearing a black ski mask and (with a) thin build exit the driver's side of the vehicle. The suspect pointed what was believed to be a stainless steel handgun at the victim and stated, 'give me your purse now,'" according to a statement from the Troy Police Department.

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The victim gave the suspect her purse, and he fled in his vehicle on Rochester Road, according to Troy police. The woman gave a partial license plate number to police, Investigators believed the suspect's vehicle to be a Dodge Nitro, according to Troy police.

On Jan. 16, a Troy police officer spotted a 2008 Dodge Nitro parked in a front yard in a subdivision near the scene of the armed robbery. Mell was positively identified as the suspect, and was arrested after being followed to a party store.

Mell was intoxicated at the time of his arrest and registered a 0.30 blood alcohol content, according to Troy police -- almost four times the legal limit for operating a vehicle.

Mell was arraigned Jan. 18 at 52-4 District Court in Troy on one count of armed robbery and six counts of fraud with a financial transaction device.

If convicted, Mell could face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the armed robbery charge, and up to four years in prison for each fraud charge.

Magistrate Clement Waldmann set Mell's bond at $250,000 for the armed robbery and fraud charges.

Mell also was charged with operating while intoxicated, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Waldmann set Mell's bond at $20,000 for the drunken driving charge.

Mell is scheduled to appear in 52-4 District Court at 9 a.m. on Jan. 22 before Judge Kirsten Hartig on the operating while intoxicated charge, and is scheduled to appear at 9 a.m. on Jan. 23 before Judge William Bolle, also at 52-4 District Court, on the armed robbery and fraud charges.

"Since the original report of the armed robbery, Troy police officers in the Directed Patrol Unit, Special Investigations Unit and other Investigators have worked many hours to locate the suspect," Public Information Officers Capt. Robert Redmond and Sgt. Andy Breidenich said in a statement following Mell's arrest.

"This extensive search displays the Troy Police Department's philosophy to exhaust all efforts to apprehend perpetrators of crimes that adversely affect the life and livability of those who live, work and enjoy Troy."